Too Much Alfalfa?

[Hashi]

Hi all,

New rabbit mommy here! I adopted a bunny last week so I don’t know much about her history. I’ve read that timothy hay is recommended for rabbits to eat, but I could only get alfalfa. I only just noticed that her pellets are also made with “dehydrated alfalfa meal”, so basically she eats alfalfa pellets as well as alfalfa hay. Is that too much alfalfa or is that fine? She also eats less of the actual hay than her first few days.

I’ve also been feeding her bok choy twice a day- is that too much? Is there another type of veggie I can feed her to supplement her diet? (I live in Malaysia.)

(PS. Is there any difference between ‘bunny’ and ‘rabbit’? lol!)

[ThorBunny]

Hi Hashi,

How old is your bunny? If it is under 6 months, then alfalfa hay and alfalfa pellets are fine for now. Young rabbits can get unlimited pellets and should always have access to unlimited hay. If she is not eating hay properly though, it may be good to cut back on her pellets a bit so that she will eat more of it. Hay is very important for digestive health!

If she is older than 6 months, or for when she grows that old, she will need timmothy hay or some other sort of grass hay instead. Alfalfa hay is too rich for rabbits not growing. Luckily, there are many types of grass hay that are fine for rabbits These include Meadow hay, oat hay, orchard grass, etc. Hay that is fed to horses is usually acceptable for rabbits, so if you are having a hard time finding hay at a pet store maybe you could look into farm stores if there are some near you?

Bunnies over 3 months old can get veggies. Bok Choy is good for rabbits, although some people suggest feeding it in small quantities because it is in the cabbage family and can cause gas. Other good veggies are lettuce (not iceburg though), chard, coriander, pea shoots, mustard greens, dandelion greens, kale, parsely and many others. If you are adding any veggies make sure to gradually introduce them to her diet. One new vegetable every few days and keep an eye on her appetite/poops to make sure she can it it without problems

[Hashi]

Thank you! According to the vet she is 6 months old ? I guess I’ll switch to a different kind of hay after she finishes her current bag of hay. I don’t live near a farm but I’ll probably try other pet shops to see if they have Timothy hay! I’ll definitely look into the different vegetables and see what she likes. Thanks so much!!

[jerseygirl]

At 6 months old. she could start on a grass hay if she hasn’t already. I read another post of yours that she is an french angora? So they do need a little more protein in the diet to produce the wool coat. The alfalfa pellets would help with that.
Im not certain what happened to your other post. I think it was posted on an older thread?

[joea64]

There’s really no difference between “bunny” and “rabbit”. People used to use the word “bunny” to refer to a baby or young rabbit, but these days, a lot of folks, especially us house-rabbit folks, use the terms interchangeably; in fact, a lot of us use the even shorter form “bun”.

I don’t know if you’ve already checked this source, but Pet Lovers Centre, petloverscentre.com.my appears to have timothy hay in stock via mail order:

http://www.petloverscentre.com.my/Forms/Products.aspx?DepartmentID=6&DeptCategoryID=89

Depending on where in Malaysia you are, there are quite a few locations in the Kuala Lumpur metro area if you have or can get transport to get there, timothy hay might not necessarily be in stock at a given store. I see they stock Oxbow, and have oat and orchard as well as timothy. @ThorBunny’s suggestion about feed stores supplying farmers is a good one too, and they may have cheaper prices on hay than pet stores. I’d also check with the local Humane Society or SPCA, or better yet a rabbit rescue organization if there’s one such in Malaysia. I recommend offering your bun an amount of hay at least equal to body size/volume twice daily, or more often if your bun has a big appetite , and keep refreshed as needed.  
  
The House Rabbit Society in the U.S. (www.rabbit.org) maintains a comprehensive list of which vegetables are best to feed rabbits; basically, you want dark-green, leafy veggies such as red and green leaf and romaine lettuce (NOT iceberg!) I don’t know if you have in Malaysia the salad mix known in the U.S. as “spring mix”, but if you do, it’s very good to feed rabbits since it contains a good mixture of the best leafy greens.

UPDATE: I see that your bunny is 6 months old, so yes, she should begin transitioning to unlimited grass hay and timothy-based pellets (I didn’t look, but I think you can get Oxbow timothy pellets at Pet Lovers Centre too – look for “Oxbow Essentials Adult Rabbit Food”; you should give your bun only 1/8 cup per 5 pounds adult body weight per day; these are U.S. measures, I’m not sure what the metric equivalent would be). Since your bun is an Angora, per @jerseygirl, I’d venture to say that you should offer grass hay of one of the suggested types mixed with a small amount of alfalfa hay daily to keep the fur coat in good condition.
 

[jerseygirl]

Oh, I forgot about the Bunny V’s Rabbit question. No dofference, as Joe has said.
Now Im curious…What is the Malaysian word for rabbit?

[Hashi]

Thanks so much for the replies! I just bought a big bag of Timothy hay today so we’ll see how much she likes it tonight

[Hashi]

Haha yes, she is a french angora (I’m pretty sure). And yes I did post on an older thread! xD

Alright I just got timothy hay, but I’ll keep her alfalfa pellets because she’s quite picky and that’s the only type of pellet she will eat so far  she just picks around everything else!

Ps. The Malay word for rabbit is arnab!

[Hashi]

Oh “bun” is so cute! And I actually did manage to get a big bag of timothy hay from PLC today, so thank you! 

I do give her a large amount of hay but she doesn’t eat much of it. She just rolls around on it, chews a few strands, and flattens it. I hope she would like the timothy hay more.

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